TE KARAKA

Sharon Roberston and her whānau live on 10 acres of lush, rolling Taranaki farmland, 30 minutes drive from New Plymouth.
Horses have been part of her life since childhood. In recent years she has transformed her love of these majestic animals into a business that is helping to change lives.

Summer is the time when nature is abundantly full of life and the māra is at its most productive. However, despite the obvious beauty of the bountiful summer māra, what we can’t see in our food is just as important as what we can see.
Microbes (moroiti) inhabit a world beyond our normal eyesight. Research is increasingly finding that moroiti can be just as important to our diet, our physical health, and our mental health as the normal nutritional factors we know are in food. Researchers have found that trillions of microbes live in, on, and around us, collectively making up our microbiome.

And then it dawned on me. Whakapapa. Haare Williams was using this poem to teach whakapapa. The whakapapa of the winds. Like Matiaha in Te Waiatatanga mai o te Atua; it was a different whakapapa but whakapapa all the same. Easily formatted, with a rhythm and simplicity that make it accessible. Hidden in plain sight, told naturally, yet with a sophistication that is just clever. I went back to page one and started again, eyes unglazed, and kicking myself for not seeing it sooner.

The Ashley-Rakahuri Rivercare Group (ARRG) is a nonprofit organ-isation based in North Canterbury, New Zealand. It is devoted to protecting the unique birds living on the Ashley Rakahuri River. Only 18 per cent of New Zealand’s bird population is not at risk. Pollution, climate change, habitat loss, and other factors pose an increasing threat.